By Tennis Now | Friday, February 22, 2018
Seventeen-year-old Anastasia Potapova subdued Sorana Cirstea, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5, to reach her first semifinal of the season in Budapest.
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A resourceful Anastasia Potapova continues to solve all problems in Budapest.
The 17-year-old Potapova subdued Sorana Cirstea, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-5, to reach her first semifinal of the season at the Hungarian Ladies Open.
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It is the Moscow baseliner's second semifinal in her last six WTA tournaments.
Last fall, Potapova played through qualifying winning six straight matches to reach the Tashkent final where she bowed to Margarita Gasparyan in straight sets.
This week, Potapova has produced under pressure. She fended off Heather Watson, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in her opener, swept Andrea Petkovic, 6-2, 7-5, then withstood 11 double faults to defeat Cirstea in two hours, 50 minutes.
Potapova will play Marketa Vondrousova for a place in the final.
The eighth-seeded Vondrousova rallied for a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in two hours, 11 minutes.
Earlier, Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova reached her second WTA semifinal with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 55th-ranked Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier.